‘No.’ Sebastian shakes his head. ‘That’s a bedtime story parents tells their children. The only thing that can turn you into one of them is touching the shadows of The Veil itself.’
He turns and leaves, departing right after dropping thatfunfact about The Veil that I never knew until now. How wonderful. Don’t touch it, you’ll turn into a monster.
Nicks gets us to line up, and on a whistle that rings in my ears, we start to move toward the treeline as one. No one rushes in this time. In fact, no one seems to utter a sound as we pass the first set of thin pale trees and delve deeper and deeper into the fray until I look over my shoulder and can no longer see Nicks or the combat leaders.
Sticks crack under my boots and each one sounds louder than usual. Isla’s head whips left and right as she prowls forward, several feet away from me. Slowly, we all start to fan out, separating from each other, on the hunt for our own shadow walker.
My hand tightens around the hilt of the short sword. It’s heavier than the dagger I stole, and I’m not used to the added weight. I’m tempted to crouch down and unsheathe my new dagger from around my calf, but Idon’t want to do that here. Not when anyone can see and call me a cheater for walking in here with an extra weapon. I keep it concealed, for now.
I walk for what seems like an hour, but judging by the soft glow I spy peeking through the trees, I know the sun has onlyjuststarted to rise. It’s probably only been about fifteen minutes. My heart is racing, anticipation and fear rolling around inside of me, and when I hear sudden shouting off in the distance, it skips a beat.
My head snaps to the right. My ears prick for any further sound as my eyes scan for movement.
‘Fuck!’ I hiss to myself. ‘Fuck you, Nicks. You piss stain!’
I edge forward slowly, my entire body feeling like it’s on high alert. I can’t see anyone now. They’re all hidden among the forest, but every now and then, I hear something: a grunt, a yelp, or the sound of metal clashing or feet stomping along sticks and the hard ground. Until suddenly, a rattling growl scratches at my ears.
It’s loud this time. Loud enough that I startle, bringing the sword up between my torso and the bushes and trees in front of me.
I can hear my heartbeat in my ears as I take a cautious step back, eyeing the leaves for any movement. I wait until I hear the sound again. The only way I can describe it, is if someone’s ribs had been broken and they couldn’t breathe properly. As if their lungs were being crushed and all they managed out was a rattling wheeze.
I grit my teeth, crouching into a defensive position when something suddenly bursts through the trees. No, not something. A shadow walker.
Stars! My mouth goes dry as I scramble backward, eyes widening on the creature in front of me. It’s around my height, maybe a bit taller, and humanoid in form. Two arms, two legs, a head where it should be. But its skin is peeling back from its muscles and bones, the edges looking charred, as if it’s been burn t. Its straw -like hair is wiry and missing in patches, and its eyes are as black as the shadows they come from.
Endless, empty pits that seem to shudder when they notice me standing here, weapon raised. And of course, around its neck is a thickshard of green swirling malachite. The stone taps against its exposed collarbone each time it takes another jerking step forward. Clunk, clunk, clunk. My stomach rolls.
I hear Sebastian’s voice in the back of my mind, telling me not to hesitate. But my eyes fall to the ten sharp claws that extend past the length of any human nails I’ve ever seen. I’ve gotonesword; it’s gottensharp claws.
‘Well, that’s not fair,’ I mutter beneath my breath before I lunge.
My sword arcs wide as I close in on the walker. I bring the blade up to my shoulder and swing low, aiming for its lower abdomen. But just as the blade cuts through the air, the walker leaps back and its left hand swipes out, claws extended for my open shoulder.
I drop to the ground, avoiding what I’m sure would have been a close call, then roll out of the way as it advances. That rattling breath grates at my ears, sending a shiver down my spine as it opens its mouth to gnash its brown teeth at me.
It moves quickly; I’m barely on my feet when the next attack comes. Again, claws swing toward my chest. But I bring the sword up, across my body. The blade slices across its forearm, cutting deep into the already ruined flesh.
The walker lets out an ear-splitting howl as it curls over. Its head cricks in my direction, its nostrils flare and the barely there lips on the creature pull back in a vicious snarl.
‘Looks like you pissed your walker off, Nocthare!’ Moira sniggers from behind me, seconds before I feel a large male body grab hold of me from behind. He pins my arms down by my sides, just as Moira appears in my periphery and kicks the sword from my hand then bends to retrieve it.
‘What are youdoing?’ I shout, eyes flicking between her and the walker, who’s slowly starting to rise to its full height again. ‘Marcus!’ I scream, using one of my legs to kick at him. Trying to get myself free from his hold.
‘Taking out the competition. Don’t take it personally, Nocthare,’ he says into the back of my head.
They’re going to take my fucking sword! Do they want this thing to rip me in half? What a joke, of course they do. It would make it easier than them having to do it themselves.
‘You’re a fucking coward!’ I seethe and smack the back of my head into what I hope is his nose. I hear a crack, then his howl of pain. Marcus lets me go suddenly, and I stumble forward a step.
‘Bitch!’ he growls, but my focus has drifted. Marcus no longer matters, because the walker has recovered and it looks about three seconds from lunging my way. Its beady eyes fixed on me like I’m prey.
‘Moira!’ I hiss. ‘Give me back my sword, now.’
‘Can’t do that,’ she says, grabbing Marcus by the arm and hauling him back. ‘We need to go.Now. Let that thing finish her off.’
I hear them sprint off into the trees behind me, and I know I’m alone in what comes next. My heart sinks, but as the walker steps forward, I realise I don’t have time to feel disappointed or angry. Because I have no weapon in my hand, and this thing is coming for my throat.
I try to leap out of the way, needing to get far enough that I have time to rip up my pant leg and unsheathe my dagger. But as I turn to run, searing hot pain lances down my spine as its claws scrape through my clothing.
